East Windsor pilot: Never doubted surviving river crash

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — The pilot of a small aircraft that crashed into the icy Hudson River over the weekend says all she could think of was how she was going to put the plane down.

Denise De Priester of East Windsor, N.J. was taking in the Manhattan skyline Sunday with a friend, Christopher Smidt, a correctional sergeant from Colonia, N.J. when the engine balked somewhere around the George Washington Bridge.

She tells WABC-TV the plane dropped 400 feet in five seconds. She says she didn’t have enough time to recover so she focused on making a safe water landing.

She says she made a mayday call but got no response.

They were in the frigid water about 30 minutes before being rescued. She says she never doubted they’d survive.